According a detailed report by the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC), an alliance over 60 organizations worldwide, actions taken by high seas fishing nations are not enough to protect deep-sea ecosystems from the destructive impact of bottom fishing. The report was presented at a meeting of UNICPOLOS.
The United Nation’s General Assembly’s oceans working group mentioned that the DSCC report, which was submitted to the UN Secretary General, highlights the failure of most high seas fishing States and regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) to effectively implement the measures agreed in a 2006 UN General Assembly resolution by the deadline of 31 December 2008.
It is said that the implementation has been partial at best in some areas such as the North Atlantic, Southern Ocean and South Pacific and non-existent in other areas such as the Indian Ocean. Matthew Gianni of the DSCC expressed that the effort ofimplementation has been far short of what the UN General Assembly has called for and yet all countries with high seas bottom fleets have continued to permit such fishing in 2009. The report states that every country that has a deep sea fishing fleet has failed to implement the resolution in its true sense.
The Resolution adopted by the General Assembly in December 2006 called for all States and RFMOs to take number of stern measures to protect vulnerable deep sea ecosystems such as seamounts and cold-water corals, through conducting environmental impact assessments, closing areas of the high seas to bottom fishing where vulnerable marine ecosystems are likely to occur, and ensuring the long-term sustainability of deep-sea fish stocks.
It is informed that some States and RFMOs have closed some areas to bottom fishing but many of these closures are only temporary and contain loopholes which allow for ‘scientific’ or ‘exploratory’ fishing. In addition, the DSCC report concludes that most bottom fisheries on the high seas continue to deplete slow growing, long lived, deep-sea species of fish and sharks.
